Process
Areas
(staged)

Level 2
 RM
 ARD
 PP
 PMC
 AM
 SSAD
 MA
 PPQA
 CM
Level 3
 ATM
 AVER
 AVAL
 OPF
 OPD
 OT
 IPM
 RSKM
 DAR
Level 4
 OPP
 QPM
Level 5
 OID
 CAR

 4.3. Acquisition Requirements Development

An Acquisition Process Area at Maturity Level 2

Purpose

The purpose of Acquisition Requirements Development (ARD) is to develop and analyze customer and contractual requirements.

This process area describes two types of requirements: customer requirements, which address the needs of relevant stakeholders for which one or more products and services will be acquired, and contractual requirements, which are the requirements to be addressed through the acquirer’s relationship with suppliers and other appropriate organizations. Both sets of requirements must address needs relevant to later product lifecycle phases (e.g., operation, maintenance, support, and disposal) and key product attributes (e.g., safety, reliability, and maintainability).

In some acquisitions, the acquirer assumes the role of overall systems engineer, architect, or integrator for the product. In these acquisitions, the Requirements Development process area of CMMI-DEV should be used. Requirements Development in CMMI-DEV includes additional information helpful in these situations, including deriving and analyzing requirements at successively lower levels of product definition (e.g., establishing and maintaining product component requirements).

Requirements are the basis for the selection and design or configuration of the acquired product. The development of requirements includes the following activities:

·         Elicitation, analysis, and validation of stakeholder needs, expectations, constraints, and interfaces to obtain customer requirements that constitute an understanding of what will satisfy stakeholders

·         Development of the lifecycle requirements of the product (e.g., development, maintenance, transition to operations, decommissioning)

·         Establishment of contractual requirements consistent with customer requirements to a level of detail that is sufficient to be included in the solicitation package and supplier agreement

·         Development of the operational concept

·         Analysis of needs and requirements (for each product lifecycle phase), the operational environment, and factors that reflect overall customer and end-user needs and expectations for attributes such as safety, security, and affordability

The requirements included in the solicitation package form the basis for evaluating proposals by suppliers and for further negotiations with suppliers and communication with the customer. The contractual requirements for the supplier are baselined in the supplier agreement.

Requirements are refined throughout the project lifecycle. Design decisions, subsequent corrective actions, and feedback during each phase of the project’s lifecycle are analyzed for their impact on contractual requirements.

Requirements analyses aid understanding, defining, and selecting requirements at all levels from competing alternatives. Analyses occur recursively at successively more detailed levels until sufficient detail is available to produce contractual requirements and to further refine these, if necessary, while the supplier builds or configures the product.

Involvement of relevant stakeholders in both requirements development and analyses gives them visibility into the evolution of requirements. Participation continually assures stakeholders that requirements are being properly defined.

The Acquisition Requirements Development process area includes three specific goals. The Develop Customer Requirements specific goal addresses eliciting and defining a set of customer requirements. The Develop Contractual Requirements specific goal addresses defining contractual requirements that are based on customer requirements and are included in the solicitation package and supplier agreement. The specific practices of the Analyze and Validate Requirements specific goal support the development of the requirements in the first two specific goals. The specific practices associated with this specific goal cover analyzing and validating requirements with respect to the acquirer’s intended environment.

Refer to the Requirements Management process area for more information about managing requirements and changes, obtaining agreement with the requirements provider, obtaining commitments with those implementing the requirements, and maintaining traceability.

Refer to the Solicitation and Supplier Agreement Development process area for more information about developing solicitation packages and supplier agreements.

Refer to the Acquisition Technical Management process area for more information about confirming that the resulting product meets contractual requirements.

Refer to the Acquisition Validation process area for more information about validating the acquired product or service against stakeholder needs, expectations, constraints, and interfaces.

Refer to the Risk Management process area for more information about identifying and managing risks that are related to requirements.

Specific Goal and Practice Summary

SG 1 Develop Customer Requirements

SP 1.1       Elicit Stakeholder Needs

SP 1.2       Develop and Prioritize Customer Requirements

SG 2 Develop Contractual Requirements

SP 2.1       Establish Contractual Requirements

SP 2.2       Allocate Contractual Requirements

SG 3 Analyze and Validate Requirements

SP 3.1       Establish Operational Concepts and Scenarios

SP 3.2       Analyze Requirements

SP 3.3       Analyze Requirements to Achieve Balance

SP 3.4       Validate Requirements

Specific Practices by Goal

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Process
Areas(continuous)

Process
management  
 OPF
 OPD
 OT  
 OPP 
 OID
Project
management
 PP
 PMC
 IPM
 QPM
 RSKM
 REQM
Acquisition
 AM
 SSAD 
 ARD
 ATM
 AVER
 AVAL
Support
 CM
 PPQA
 MA
 DAR
 CAR